Is Reconstructionism Merging with “Kingdom Now?”

Is a marriage of Recon­structionism and “Kingdom Now” underway? Yes, says pastor David Baird of the Victory Christian Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

He organized and hosted the “Symposium on Kingdom and Covenant” to help do just that at his church in September.

The August issue of Charis­ma magazine contained a full-page advertisement inviting 200 pastors and church leaders to the symposium. Pictured in the ad, along with the question, “What will these spokesmen for the kingdom of God be doing September 15-17?”, were Earl Paulk, Dennis Peacock, Gary DeMar, David Chil­ton, George Grant, Don Meares, Charles Nestor, and Ern Baxter.

“It was an attempt to merge Reconstructionism with ‘King­dom Now’ theology, and it was successful,” said Baird, a former Assemblies of God minis­ter turned Reconstructionist, in a telephone interview. “The result is still yet to emerge, but will become clear in the next couple of years,” he added.

“Kingdom Now” is a move­ment spearheaded by Paulk, Bishop John Meares, and others who believe that the church, as a manifestation of the kingdom of God, will even­tually take over society. Only when the church is in a posi­tion of power will Christ return to rule, Paulk and other leaders teach. Paulk is bishop of the10,000-member Chapel Hill Harvester Church near Atlanta.

Reconstructionism is a post-millennial movement which originated within the Re­formed or Calvinistic tradi­tion in America. Reconstruc­tionists speaking at the sympo­sium were Gary North, DeMar, Chilton, and Grant.

Baxter and Peacocke were leaders of the controversial “shepherding movement” which taught that indi­vidual believers must submit themselves to a “covering” or chain of command before mak­ing many decisions. Although the movement has fragmented in recent years, many of its teachers and teachings have merged into the “Kingdom Now” or dominion movement. Baird said Baxter worked hard behind the scenes to pull together the two camps.

The reason he and others have been seeking to unite the two movements is because “the charismatic movement has grossly failed,” Baird said. “I feel we have been too loose in our theology. And this is also Paulk’s concern.”

He added that the Recon­structionists have some difficul­ties with some of Paulk’s theo­logical positions “such as his understanding of the office of prophet.” But, on the other hand, “Reconstructionists would agree with the five­fold ministry (as taught by Paulk and many charismatic teachers) as a historic reality in the church.”

Baird said the camps have decided to begin a new publi­cation called The Basileian (‘kingdom” in Greek) Journal containing articles from both “Kingdom Now” and Recon­structionist writers.

A merger of the two camps has long been predicted — sought after by some. In a widely circulated letter to Peter Lalonde, editor of The Omega Letter, North wrote that increasing criticism of kingdom (dominion) leaders will result in “pressuring the dominion people into the Reconstructionist camp” — which he welcomes. “We were shepherds without sheep. No longer.”